


one, two, and three

by quietdays



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, guardian angel!jeonghan, i'm using college/uni tag as loosely as i can ok slgjsdlgsdgsdlgj, side meanie & junhao hihihi, tempting devil!joshua
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 11:07:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14104020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quietdays/pseuds/quietdays
Summary: “There’s no one here.” Joshua tells him randomly as they wait for the pedestrian light to go green. “You can forego the light this time; you’re running late aren’t you?”Seungcheol’s practically running in place as he worriedly looks at his watch then the light, minute by minute his stress level increases. He looks at the street and the sidewalk on the other side. Joshua is right. There’s no car incoming nor are there people who can report him to the police if he breaks the law this one time. Of course, he’ll feel guilty that he’s breaking the law but that can be justified, he’s running late for a very important meeting—all of them are. He bites his lips as he genuinely is considering Joshua’s advice.Behind him, Jeonghan makes a noise of displeasure.or the fic where Jeonghan and Joshua are Seungcheol's pair of angel and devil sent to look after him.





	one, two, and three

**Author's Note:**

> hello the second fic to come out of the quietdays' fic writing week bonanza (the name's subject to change because i keep forgetting the actual name of it) in where i try to write all week because it's holy week and i have nothing better to do. hello! this took me three days to write and i hate myself now.
> 
> also it's embarrassing how most of my ot3 fics are like one two three in just different variations if i legitimately dont know what to name it sldkgjsldgk. i also literally do not know how to do summaries anymore. actually you know what--what the fuck is writing even?
> 
> not proof-read nor edited because i suck and i am lazy as hell.
> 
> enjoy

“There’s no one here.” Joshua tells him randomly as they wait for the pedestrian light to go green. “You can forego the light this time; you’re running late aren’t you?”

Seungcheol’s practically running in place as he worriedly looks at his watch then the light, minute by minute his stress level increases. He looks at the street and the sidewalk on the other side. Joshua _is_ right. There’s no car incoming nor are there people who can report him to the police if he breaks the law this one time. Of course, he’ll feel guilty that he’s breaking the law but that can be justified, he’s running late for a very important meeting—all of them are. He bites his lips as he genuinely is considering Joshua’s advice.

Behind him, Jeonghan makes a noise of displeasure.

“Don’t listen to him, ‘cheol.” He tells him and even if Seungcheol can’t see him, he can practically hear Jeonghan glaring daggers at Joshua who only shrugs beside the oldest. “There’s a CCTV by the light and they’ve already seen our faces. Also, look. By your five o’clock, a kid is watching us. You don’t want to be a bad role model for this kid, don’t you?”

Seungcheol bites his lips some more. He looks at the kid Jeonghan points out and the kid is so very much obviously is watching them despite his best efforts to appear not to. He knows it takes a village to raise a kid.

Joshua groans. “He’s not your kid.”

“Yeah, but—“ Seungcheol says, finally making a decision, standing firm on his feet and waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. “He can learn bad things from me because I’m an adult. I don’t want him to think it’s okay or cool to run on the street when the light’s green. What if he gets hit by a truck?”

Jeonghan lets out a tiny victory shout and pats Seungcheol on the shoulder. Joshua on his side just slouches and sighs, disappointed.

“You’re making my job hard, ‘cheol-ah.” Joshua rubs his face. “Curse you for having a soft heart for children.”

“God bless you for having a soft heart and making my job easier.” Jeonghan says from behind and he sounds so pleased with himself that he sounds so cute. Joshua makes a disgruntled noise at this and Jeonghan only laughs at him. “Well, don’t be so sad ‘shua. Light always defeats the dark, you know?”

“Jeonghan, please shut up. I wasn’t doing this only for my dark devil agenda or whatever it is you think I do—I was also doing this so that Minghao wouldn’t throw a fit over us being late for may I remind the two of you, the _sixth_ time this week.” Joshua hisses but he quickly recovers. He takes a deep breath and he calms down.  He digs deep into his pockets and passes a chapstick to Seungcheol who graciously accepts it.

“Two of those were caused by you, you know?” Jeonghan says, paragon of virtue.

“The other four of those were caused by _you._ ” Joshua reminds him. “And you’re supposed to be the stickler for the rules and punctuality—you useless angel!”

“What do you want me to say? Playing with ‘cheol is better than going to these boring meetings. Maybe if you actually do your job right, I won’t be doing it for you, hopeless devil.” Jeonghan shrugs; maybe he’s not really a paragon of virtue after all. He looks at the pedestrian lights and starts walking, making it clear to bump into Joshua (who just looks plain offended at this point). “Lights green!”

Joshua still looks a bit annoyed but still catches up to Jeonghan. He’s too far away at this point so that whatever things he’s mumbling about Jeonghan under his breath can’t be heard but knowing him, it can’t be anything good that he doesn’t actually mean. His back is no longer slouched and when he reaches the other, Jeonghan puts an arm around his shoulder that he tries faking to resist but in the end accepts it. There’s a smile on his lips and Jeonghan’s probably telling him something funny at the expense of one of their friends.

Seungcheol stays behind to look at them, applying chapstick on his lips. He feels his heart soar and he thinks he could be happy for all of eternity to look at them just like this. Then he looks at the pedestrian light about to turn red and that feeling breaks as he remembers he’s running late for a meeting. He breaks out into a run.

Not the time to think about these things when nothing—not even godly protection or devil interference can save anyone from Minghao’s wrath.

* * *

* * *

See, guardian angels or tempting devils really shouldn’t show themselves to their assigned humans. They’re only able to show themselves to them when situations are dire or their human is about to sell their souls—neither of which did Seungcheol ever have the misfortune of happening.

However, despite Seungcheol being the kind of human that’s not really anything special aside from his all too big heart that can encompass everyone and his avid devotion to dogs, family, children and the people he trusts, his angel and devil is anything but. After all, the two of them already knew each other too well and much too intimately even before they got assigned to the same human.

And when the both of them started to love Seungcheol much more than patron love (which wasn’t hard considering it _was_ Seungcheol)—it was also the two’s conscious (and dumb) decision to appear in front of him as a duo with all the intention of courting him and never really developing that plan aside from the basics (which involved just appearing in his apartment and letting things move from there). Seungcheol, thankfully, did not call the cops despite being surprised about how two insane men with two outfits not appropriate for that time period (Jeonghan with his white hanbok that almost seemed blinding and Joshua with his Victorian era suit, complete with the frock coat, that seemed as black as the night sky) suddenly appeared inside his house claiming to be the beings watching over him from above.

Seungcheol, being the responsible adult he was, did not believe them. However, he did offer them (two complete strangers) a place to stay (his home) if they didn’t have anywhere to continue to so maybe he’s not that responsible of an adult. He also wound up believing them in the end after the nth time Wonwoo pointed out that it wasn’t normal for remotes to just fly towards Jeonghan when he wanted it to nor was it normal for Joshua to scare every dog and cat within ten feet of him.

Not to say that Seungcheol didn’t like it. Sure, some days it hits him like a freight truck that he’s dating two somewhat immortal beings and that intimidates the life out of him, but he copes. They cope. They somewhat manage to work together with Jeonghan doing the groceries, Joshua accompanying him to make sure he doesn’t only buy soju and Seungcheol also ending up accompanying them so that the both of them won’t use their blessings and curses to scam the tiny grocery store they’ve been a customer of for how many months. It’s unsettling and most days he’s not even sure how he’s managed to lure them away from heaven and hell but he definitely knows he won’t trade it for the world—even if Joshua’s managed to burn their sunny side up eggs for the nth time and even if Jeonghan’s poured an ungodly amount of sugar in that morning’s coffee. His apartment has never been this lively and homey before, and that makes him happy.

That, dear readers, is how Jeonghan and Joshua managed to worm themselves into the small and warm abode of Seungcheol’s home.

* * *

* * *

“You’re late.”

If there is a being who can stare down God and Death himself, perhaps it would be Xu Minghao who was currently in the process of staring at the three with such intensity that they would’ve probably been dead five times over if it weren’t for the fact that the only person who can stop the being called Xu Minghao was also present.

“Thank you for asking. We’re fine by the way.” Jeonghan tells him and Minghao only gives him a look that said he better stop or else there would be consequences.

“I don’t care if you’re doing fine; I care about _why_ you were late.” Minghao replies dryly and Junhui sitting in a chair beside him coughs. Minghao spares a glance at him and sighs. “ _Okay_. Fine, maybe I do care a tiny bit that you’re doing fine. Better?”

“Very much so.” Junhui gives him a small smile and returns back to scrolling down on twitter on his phone. Seungcheol is honestly a bit scared that Junhui holds this much power over a being that can take over the world if he very much so wanted to. Then he realizes it’s probably Junhui who acts as Minghao’s moral compass and therefore is also the reason why he’s not taking over the world.

“ _I’m not gonna take over the world hyung._ ” Minghao says.

Wow. Truly powerful. Who else can read other people’s minds aside from Minghao?

“You’re just saying everything you’re thinking out loud.” Minghao says him and it’s clear that he’s tired. Seungcheol rightly shuts up. He may be older than him but the other is also a record-holding and champion martial artist and he’s not in the mood of actually finding out how good of a martial artist Xu Minghao is. “What’s the excuse this time?”

Jeonghan’s arms reaches out to grab onto Joshua and Seungcheol’s necks. It’s so sudden that the two gets swept up in the action. He gives out a bright smile. “We were too busy having s—“

“ _Anyone_ but Jeonghan, please.” Minghao looks at the angel with such intensity that it seems like any moment now he’s going to jump out of his chair and personally choke the life out of Jeonghan. Which begs the question: can angels even die?

Joshua removes himself from Jeonghan’s grasp as does Seungcheol. He brushes off non-existent dirt on his coat and adjusts it—not that it even needed any adjusting. For some reason, Seungcheol has a nagging feel that even if the devil just got out of a warzone, his clothes would still be picture-perfect, pristine in all the right ways.

“We were _not_ having sex—“

“I don’t need to know that.”

Joshua gives Minghao a look. Minghao slouches a bit.

“As I was saying,” Joshua says, snapping his fingers discretely as he possibly can—which means to say not at all discretely as he’d like.  “We were _not_ having sex like Jeonghan wanted to say, instead we were—“

But before Joshua could even finish what he was saying, the door to the club room opens and spills out a rather amazing picture that Junhui has already captured on his phone before everyone processes the image they’re seeing right now.

On the floor right now laid one Jeon Wonwoo and one Kim Mingyu who was busy making out. They seem to not have noticed that they weren’t making out _outside_ of the club room but rather _inside_. A whole five seconds pass by without anyone doing anything before Minghao decides enough is enough and coughs rather loudly.

Of course this does not deter the couple and Wonwoo’s hands gets dangerously close to Mingyu’s ass. They continue on as if five people weren’t looking at them on the verge of actually having sex in public. Finally, Minghao sighs and bangs the table with his hand. The sound from it vibrates all throughout the room and it surprises Seungcheol despite him already knowing that it was inevitable.

This seems to finally have caught the attention of the two. They stop making out and look at where the noise came from. When they realize they haven’t been making out privately, they freeze and turn red. Junhui, of course, has already taken another picture of this. _For club purposes_ , he’d later defend his actions, _blackmail? I don’t even know what that is!_

“So this is what getting club forms looks like.” Minghao dryly states. “I didn’t know it could be this intimate.”

And with that, Xu Minghao has forgotten that Yoon Jeonghan, Choi Seungcheol and Hong Joshua were late for the _seventh_ time that week.

* * *

“You used your freaky demon powers, didn’t you?”

The meeting is over and the three of them are making their way back to their apartment when Jeonghan speaks up. It’s late in the evening and Seungcheol shivers, bundling deeper into his jacket. His nose looks red like a tomato and he can’t help but look at the stars as they walk. He thinks of Minghao who’s not yet used to the cold Seoul nights despite him already been living here for at least three years now; he hopes the younger is okay and is bundled up in his warm dorm room.

Joshua scoffs. “What makes you think that?”

From Seungcheol’s side, Jeonghan gives him a look. Joshua’s shoulders slouch for what seems to be the nth time that day.

“Posture.” Seungcheol reminds him gently. He smiles when Joshua takes his advice and straightens up his back. “Thank you.”

Joshua gives him a smile. “No, _thank you_.”

Jeonghan rolls his eyes. “ _Joshua_.”

“ _Jeonghan_.”

“Your powers. You used them, right?” Jeonghan sighs. “I don’t understand why you couldn’t have told Minghao the truth on why we were late.”

“You know ‘hao. He won’t believe our dumb excuse no matter how true. You literally even started by joking about us having sex.” Joshua shrugs at him. “Besides, Mingyu and Wonwoo were _already_ making out outside of the door. Everyone knows that door is weak with time and can’t handle anything heavier than one man.”

Jeonghan hums at this. Joshua fidgets. Seungcheol internally sighs.

“I mean—it’s not like you don’t use your powers for your own nefarious purposes!” Joshua exclaims, feeling as if he has to explain himself and that usually means he’s already lost against the angel. “I’m a _devil_ and that excuses my actions!”

“I’m not saying anything ‘shua.” Jeonghan shrugs. “Feel free to use your own powers if you want to. You don’t have to explain to me.”

Seungcheol’s gaze flickers between the two. They’re not full blown fighting yet but he probably still needs to step in just in case. His hands are getting colder even with gloves on so he decides to hold their hands. They’re both surprised of course; Joshua gives him a look filled with softness and Jeonghan’s smiles quirk up into a small smile but they intertwine their fingers together with his. Seungcheol’s cheeks turn as red as his nose and this time it’s not from the cold.

“Let’s go home.” Seungcheol tells them, and suddenly he realizes how heavy his eyes have been the past few hours. He yawns before continuing. “It’s far too cold.”

Then suddenly, as Seungcheol blinks, he finds himself already in his apartment despite not undergoing the thirty minute walk they have to make. He is sitting in his couch, blankets already wrapped around him. Joshua is beside him and has a cup of hot chocolate in his hands, looking confused as he is. Jeonghan is on the other side and refuses to meet any of their eyes, looking straight at the television that was already on.

“My drama was starting.” He tells them. “So I transported us, okay?”

Joshua laughs at this. “Soft.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.” Jeonghan huffs making Joshua laugh once again.

“You love us though, don’t you?” Joshua smiles at him, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. His head already on Seungcheol’s left shoulder, and this is why he thinks all his worries are foolish. Joshua and Jeonghan can never hate each other no matter how many times they annoy each other—that truth is universally true. As true as how the sun is a star and as true as Seungcheol’s love for the two of them.

Jeonghan takes a moment. Seungcheol feels sleep starting to overtake him, being wrapped in blankets and the people you love can do that.

“Yeah, I do.” Jeonghan mumbles, his head already resting on Seungcheol’s right shoulder and that is the last thing he hears before he sleeps.

* * *

* * *

“Uh.”

Seungcheol just wanted to get a cool glass of milk before he goes back to his room and finally sleep beside Joshua and Jeonghan. What he wasn’t expecting however was for there to be a small man sitting down in front of his table with a macbook in front of him. His skin looks as white as snow and his black hair reminds him a bit of Snow White. He has a tired-of-everyone’s-bullshit look on his face and Seungcheol somehow knows that this man could beat him in a physical fight.

The stranger looks up from his macbook and stares at Seungcheol, so intensely that it feels like the other is trying to burn a hole into him. He feels naked so he attempts to cover his chest even though that won’t really do anything. A moment passes before the stranger talks.

“You don’t have any orange juice, I checked.” He finally says. “You really should fix that.”

“Uh. Sure, I guess?” Seungcheol replies dumbly but it’s really not every day a random man breaks into your home looking for orange juice. No one in the apartment even likes orange juice, all three of them preferring apple juice.

The small man nods at him, looking pleased. “Thanks. You’re dismissed.”

Seungcheol leaves the kitchen. It’s only when he’s already made himself settled in his shared bed with Jeonghan and Joshua that he realizes he never really got his milk.

* * *

“Joshua. You’re hot.” Seungcheol frowns as he takes Joshua’s temperature. “Like too hot.”

“I know I’m attractive ‘cheol.” Joshua makes an attempt to joke but stops in his tracks as Seungcheol and Jeonghan looks at him with a look. He sighs. “It’s nothing really! I still feel fine. It’s just a little flu.”

“Just _a little flu?_ ” Joshua, you’re burning up.” Jeonghan places the back of his hand to Joshua’s forehead. He shakes his head. “This is why I keep telling you to take your vitamins. I thought your body was used to the coldness of Seoul?”

“I thought it was! It _is_ used!” Joshua moans before he weakly coughs. “I was taking my vitamins too, and I even went back to Hell to visit my protégé so that my body would get a boost and—ah.”

“Ah?” Seungcheol raises an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m dumb. And irresponsible. And stupid.” Joshua puts his face to his hands and groans. “I may have caught the spook flu my protégé had.”

“ _Spook flu?_ It can’t be caught by humans or angels; can’t it?” Jeonghan’s eyes flicks between Joshua and Seungcheol, his body tensing up.

“Don’t worry. As far as I know, only devils can catch it.” Joshua coughs again and Jeonghan looks a tiny bit relieved. He looks up to both of them and gives the most charming smile he can muster. “I don’t suppose this means I can’t go my job today, doesn’t it?”

“ _Hong Joshua._ ” Jeonghan rubs the bridge of his nose.

“ _Yoon Jeonghan._ ” Joshua says, “That’s not an answer.”

“ _No._ ” Seungcheol answers for Jeonghan who at this point is too frustrated at Joshua’s question. “You’re sick, you’re gonna stay here and when we get back from today’s errands we’re gonna take care of you.”

Joshua pouts at them. “ _Please?_ It’s talent day today and I promised the kids I’ll play the guitar for them.”

“That’s a _no_ , ‘shua.” Seungcheol puts his foot down. “Your kids will understand if you don’t show up because you’re sick. Besides Jeonghan already called your workplace, isn’t that right?”

Jeonghan, who perked up as he was called, nods at this. He looks so serious that it looks really darn cute. Seungcheol would’ve pinched his cheeks but decides against it. The situation is dire and needs him to be unwavering.

Joshua groans at them once again but he concedes. “ _Fine_. But I’m not gonna enjoy one bit of staying home.”

“You’re sick ‘shua.” Jeonghan points out. “You’re not supposed to enjoy it.”

* * *

Jeonghan yawns as he leans onto the shopping cart he was pushing around earlier. It’s a wonder he doesn’t fall over with how close to sleep he is.

“I don’t even get why you’re buying orange juice ‘cheol-ah.” Jeonghan says before yawning again. He stretches his arms upwards. “No one in our home drinks orange juice.”

Seungcheol shrugs, not exactly knowing how to tell him that a random man he saw in their apartment late at night appeared asking for orange juice. With Joshua ending up sick, he almost forgot about that strange man until they pass by the beverage section. Actually now that he’s thinking about it clearly, it’s possible that the man he saw was actually a ghost haunting their apartment. That actually makes him stop in his tracks, but then he shakes his head. Ghosts can’t have macbooks.

Jeonghan looks at him amused. Seungcheol pouts at him. Jeonghan laughs.

“You’re so lucky you’re cute and I’m okay with you buying unneeded things with our money.” Jeonghan says, already pushing the cart forward. “Hurry and get your orange juice so we can go take care of Joshua.”ss

Seungcheol can’t stop the smile that blooms on his face. He decides on an orange juice (all of them has got to be the same, right?), gets a liter of apple juice and milk, and finally he’s done with getting their beverages for the month. He has to run to get to Jeonghan’s cart but it’s okay, he knows Jeonghan would wait for him.

“Let’s get samgye-tang before we go home.” Seungcheol says as they make their way to the cashier. “Joshua would appreciate that and it’s cold as well.”

“Mm.” Jeonghan hums in agreement. “I like the thought of that.”

* * *

Joshua looks so cute waiting for them in their bed. He’s all bundled up in their blanket and has a scarf wrapped around him that he probably stole from Jeonghan. He also has a jacket that’s two sizes too big for him (and now that Seungcheol’s looking at it closely, it looks strangely similar to the jacket he’s deemed he lost in the laundry).

“’shua! Did you wait too long?” Jeonghan is the first to run to him and it’s understandable considering how he’s left the grunt work of carrying their groceries and putting it away to Seungcheol. He tsks. “It’s too cold and you’re wearing not enough clothes.”

Joshua gives him a weak smile. “I’m okay.”

“You’re not!” Jeonghan exclaims at him and he frowns at him. He climbs on the bed and places his head on Joshua’s chest. “’shua-ah…”

“Jeonghan, really. I’m _fine._ ” Joshua chuckles. “If you’re going to be this cute and kind to me while I’m sick, maybe I should keep getting sick, huh?”

Jeonghan’s head whips up from its place and he glares at him. “Don’t even joke about that!”

“I’m kidding!” Joshua laughs, putting his hands up in the universal ‘I’m-defeated’ signal. “I don’t like being sick.”

Jeonghan rests his head back on top of Joshua’s chest but not before giving him another warning look. Within minutes, he falls asleep the same time Seungcheol comes inside the room. He smiles at the scene in front of him.

“We bought samgye-tang, if you want some.” He says, amused. “But I don’t think you’ll be able to eat it like that.”

“Seungcheol, c’mere.” Joshua pats the left side of the bed. Seungcheol complies and he lies down beside him. “One of the ways to treat the spook flu is to make sure the one who has it is warm at all times, you know?”

“So you’re telling me cuddles can actually cure sickness? I’m starting to like this sickness more and more.” Seungcheol jokes, making the other laugh who only slightly slaps his shoulder.

The two of them descend to silence, with only Jeonghan’s quiet snores filling the room. It’s not awkward at all and somehow Seungcheol’s hand finds its way to Joshua’s who smiles at this. Slowly, Joshua’s even breathing and Jeonghan’s snores start to lull him into sleep. He spares a glance at Joshua, whose eyes are also heavy-lidded.

“Thank you for the samgye-tang, even if we can’t eat it.” Joshua says, his voice heavy with sleep. “It’s probably gonna be cold when we wake up.”

“’s okay.” Seungcheol says before he closes his eyes. “We can heat it up and eat it later.”

* * *

The next day, both Seungcheol and Jeonghan catches their respective species’ version of the spook flu. Joshua looks all smug as he has already recovered from his sickness. He gives the both of them re-heated bowls of samgye-tang that they weren’t able to eat the day before.

“Who’s taking their vitamins now, huh?” Joshua tells them as he feeds them alternatingly. “Definitely not the two of you.”

“Joshua,” Seungcheol croaks out. “I thought you loved us.”

“I do!” Joshua replies, “But not enough that I won’t take the chance to make fun of you for being irresponsible.”

“This is all your fault, Joshua.” Jeonghan tells him, his eyes still closed.

Joshua, being the merciless and cruel devil he is, just laughs in reply.

* * *

* * *

Seungcheol blinks at the two guys in front of him. Jeonghan has visitors that he wanted them to meet so they’re all gathered in their apartment’s small living room. He raises his arms and points to the shortest of the two.

“You’re the dude.” He simply says.

Jeonghan slaps his arm down. He gives Seungcheol a dirty look. “It’s rude to point ‘cheol-ah.”

Seungcheol turns red at the realization that he forgot the manners his parents worked hard on to instill. “I’m sorry.”

The shorter man just raises an eyebrow at him. Seungcheol still feels a bit intimidated by him ever since that one night. One time, he’s even had a nightmare that this shorter man was stomping on all the plants that he’s worked hard to grow and that didn’t even make any sense! For one, Seungcheol doesn’t even grow plants.

“Not all orange juices are the same. Some are superior to others.” The shorter one simply says before offering his hand out. “Woozi.”

“You can call him Jihoon,” Jeonghan says, making Jihoon give him a dirty look and Seungcheol tilt his head.

“Uh.” He says and somehow it reminds him of how dumb he felt the first time he met Jihoon (Woozi?).

The shorter finally sighs. His hand is still outstretched. “You can call me Jihoon.”

“Oh.” Seungcheol says and finally shakes Jihoon’s hand briefly. “Choi Seungcheol, but you can call me Seungcheol.”

“ _Wait—_ hold on a hot minute.” The one with the chubby cheeks say, looking at Jeonghan with such wide eyes that Seungcheol’s worried his eyes might pop out at any moment. “Is this _the_ Choi Seungcheol—the one who got sick from stress because he didn’t know what kind of gift he’ll give his club for their first one hundred days together? The same one who gave a dog his jacket because it was raining and he didn’t want the dog to get sick but it was him who ended up getting sick in the end?”

Seungcheol flushes red again. That wasn’t one of his best moments. “That’s me, I guess?”

He gasps and puts his palms to his cheeks, squishing them together. Somehow they’re all reminded of a seal. His hands suddenly shoot out and he takes Seungcheol’s hands into his. “Boo Seungkwan at your service, and let me tell you, thank you for existing!”

“You’re welcome?” Seungcheol doesn’t exactly know what to feel.

“You’ve made all my shifts in the human world bearable!” Seungkwan says, “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passed time here not actually doing my job but just gossiping about your life!”

“You’re _not_ doing your job?” Jihoon from his side suddenly perks up and Seungkwan pales.

“I mean—just joking! Jeez, Jihoon can’t you take a joke?” Seungkwan stutters out and no one in the room believes him even for a single moment.

Jeonghan sighs, Joshua looks amused, Seungcheol is just lost.

“These two idiots in front of you are my family—my flock. Jihoon trained me to be an angel—my second one in fact, and we both trained Seungkwan to be an angel.” Jeonghan explains. “They’re just here for a few hours to check up on me.”

Jihoon looks annoyed. “I’m your direct superior Jeonghan.”

“Well, I’m older than you.” Jeonghan fires back and this makes Jihoon quiet down and just glare at him who just shrugs in response.

“I’m the maknae!” Seungkwan exclaims cheerfully. “There’s another one too, but he’s technically not part of our flock.”

“And this _very_ bad angel is also planning to steal away our precious Seungkwan with his sly and pretty words.” Jeonghan says as he latches his self to Seungkwan who tries to get away at the last minute but failed. “Isn’t that right ‘hoonie?”

Jihoon looks at them, and suddenly Seungcheol understands why he looks so tired. “If I’m an idiot, I wonder what the two of you are.”

“Hot.” Jeonghan replies.

“Amazing.” Seungkwan also replies.

Jihoon shakes his head. Joshua is laughing silently now. Seungcheol is still oh so very lost.

* * *

Jihoon and Seungkwan stays for another two hours before they leave. Jihoon ends up drinking almost all the orange juice Seungcheol bought and Seungkwan ends up gossiping too much with Joshua to the point that Jeonghan had to keep an eye on them.

Joshua sighs when they finally leave. He sits on the couch, in between Jeonghan and Seungcheol, and he stretches his arms up, that’s reminiscent of a cat. Jeonghan and Seungcheol has their eyes on the television (which is some corny drama) but it’s clear that they’re not really paying any attention to it and are just watching since it’s the first show that came up when they turned on the television.

“Ah, I’m jealous.” Joshua says, closing his eyes. “I forgot angels have flocks.”

Seungcheol tilts his head upward to look at Joshua better, curious. “Devils don’t have anything like that?”

Joshua shakes his head. “We don’t, I think it’s a purely angel concept.”

“How about covens then?” Jeonghan says and the television’s sound has been turned a bit down. “I’ve heard some of the devils who visit Heaven for diplomatic meetings talk a lot about covens.”

“You can’t compare covens to flocks!” Joshua laughs. “Covens are like—they’re purely political. They don’t offer the same kind of safety and warmth flocks do. Flocks are like—they’re family. In Hell, it’s purely all for themselves.”

“Your protégé though?” Seungcheol brings up, remembering the reason why Joshua sometimes visits back Hell.

“My protégé? “ Joshua thinks for a moment. “I consider him my family but—when I was young I really didn’t have anyone like what I am to Seokmin right now. I guess that’s the big difference between the old generation and new.

Jeonghan rests his head on Joshua’s shoulder. “Don’t worry ‘shua.”

“I’m not worrying about it at all.” Joshua admits. “I’m just—it’s dumb.”

“It’s not dumb.” Jeonghan insists. He holds Joshua’s hands and squeezes hard and comforting. “It’s your feelings. It’s okay if you’re frustrated or sad, just don’t call it dumb.”

“We’ll be your family.” Seungcheol finally tells him after a moment, his hand also making its way to Joshua’s. “I know it’s late, but we’ll be your family.”

“Ah, never mind. Suddenly, I don’t want a family.” Joshua replies back and this earns him a pout from Seungcheol and a light punch from Jeonghan.

“You’re such a dick.” Seungcheol tells him, no heat nor venom to his voice.

Joshua shrugs; the beginnings of a smile on his lips. “I’m the devil you know, that’s kind of my job.”

“Shh.” Jeonghan shushes them both. The television sound becomes louder. “My favorite drama is starting.”

The three of them quiet down as Jeonghan’s drama plays. It’s dark and their sole lightning is the harsh light of the television. Jeonghan’s eyes are glued to the screen and Seungcheol (even if he won’t admit it) is also invested in the relationship of the lead man and woman. Joshua looks at his two boys and his heart feels light. Maybe he’s really found the family the child him wanted so deeply in the past and somehow even the thought of that makes his heart swell so big and soar so high that it’s a little embarrassing.

His hands do not let go any of theirs, and he doesn’t let go for a long time.

* * *

* * *

Somehow, Seungcheol finds it hard to believe that the person in front of him is actually a devil and not an angel—do angelic spies exist?

Don’t get him wrong. Choi Seungcheol is not the kind of person who stereotypes people—after all he’s made peace with the fact that Yoon Jeonghan is actually an angel and not a devil in disguise but this is pushing it. Seokmin, Joshua’s protégé, sits in front of him with a nervous look in his face as he waits for his patron. He’s fidgeting and looking at anything and everything except actually Seungcheol. He looks as if he’s never really been in the outside world without any adult supervision.

In other words, he doesn’t scream out devil like Joshua does. Instead, he seems more like a dog drenched in water.

“Do you want anything to drink?” Seungcheol says in an attempt to lessen the awkwardness of the room. The kid looks like he’s about to have a heart attack. “We have apple juice?”

“Um.” Seokmin bites his lip. “Do you have orange juice?”

Seungcheol thinks on it. He’s started having the habit of stocking up on orange and grape juice for the frequent times both Jihoon and Seungkwan would stop by their apartment. He definitely probably still has some.

“Wait a minute here.” Seungcheol tells him as he stands up and goes to the kitchen. After a few minutes, he returns with two glasses in hand—one with orange juice and the other grape juice (it’s never too late to be adventurous!). “Here you go.”

“Thank you!” Seokmin beams at him and once again Seungcheol can’t believe he’s actually a devil. He takes tiny sips of his juice with a big smile on his face and _again_ —at this point he’s probably like a broken record but he still cannot believe this person in front of him is actually an honest to goodness devil in training.

“ _How?_ ” Seungcheol can’t help but mutter as he stares at Seokmin.

“Hm?” Seokmin hears this and tilts his head at the older. Seungcheol is reminded of a corgi and suddenly he wants to keep him in his apartment forever.

“No, nothing.” Seungcheol shakes his head.

“You may _not_ keep my protégé forever in your apartment ‘cheol-ah.” A voice from behind them says. The two of them looks at Joshua already dressed up in his suit, a smirk on his face. “I can practically hear the cogs in your head moving from a mile away. At least wait ‘til he’s finished his training.”

“He’s just so—“ Seungcheol blinks rapidly at Joshua, unable to from the words. Seokmin just looks plain confused but still drinking his orange juice like a good boy. “ _How?_ ”

“That’s a mystery that’s yet to be solved, ‘cheol-ah.” Joshua shrugs then turns his attention to Seokmin. “Sorry for making you wait—you ready to go, bud?”

Seokmin stands up abruptly and nods excitedly. “Yes! I won’t let you down sir!”

“I don’t think you could ever let me down ‘minnie. You’ve been a doll to work with.” Joshua chuckles at him. He looks at Seungcheol to give him context. “It’s his evaluation test today, if he passes then he’s free to do field work like the rest of us.”

“Oh!” Seungcheol nods then gives a gentle smile to the younger. “Good luck, Seokmin!”

Seokmin flushes red at this. “Thank you. I’ll be doing my best!”

“It’s like two pups meeting for the first time.” Joshua looks at the two of them amused. He digs out a pocket watch from his breast pocket because what is Joshua but not a die-hard Victorian era reenactor? “Anyways, I don’t think I’ll be making it in time for dinner. Higher-ups apparently also has some matters they need to discuss with me.”

Seungcheol blinks at him. “Oh, that’s okay!”

Joshua leans over and captures Seungcheol’s lips in a chaste kiss. “One for the road?”

Seungcheol smiles at him and kisses him again. “One for the road. Take care of yourself, okay?”

“When have I never taken care of myself?” Joshua says and with a flash of light both him and Seokmin disappear, off to do whatever it is devil’s do and take whatever test they have to take.

Seungcheol finishes his grape juice and frowns. He looks at his glass in disgust. “I don’t know how Seungkwan can drink this.” He says to no one in particular but himself. 

* * *

* * *

“The two of you are fucked.”

Jeonghan lies around and looks at Jihoon lazily. Joshua looks mildly interested in the conversation at hand. None of them are actively paying the archangel any actual attention. Jihoon sighs, these rascals really forgetting that he’s in a different league in comparison to them, huh?

He waves his hand and a staff appears out of thin air. He bangs it on the floor, shaking the entire room and arranging Jeonghan and Joshua in active listening positions. A little bit of his true angelic form and power leaks out but it’s okay. The two lower beings are actually spooked about the whole spectacle and look ready to actually actively listen to him. Jihoon takes a little pleasure in their frightened eyes and finds out that he still has it in him.

“You ready to listen to me?” He asks, making his staff disappear. “Or do I have to do something much more drastic.”

The two of them, not able to find the words and are still in shock, makes no noise but shakes their heads.

“Perfect.” Jihoon can’t help the small smile he allows himself before he switches on to his usual business mode. “I’m sure the two of you know why I’m here, aren’t you?”

“Politics.” Jeonghan sighs and closes his eyes.

“Dumb and stupid politics.” Joshua adds which Jeonghan nods his head in agreement to.

“ _Important_ politics. Politics that you roped Seungcheol in because the two of you couldn’t keep it in your pants.” Jihoon reminds the two of them. He is the one who sighs this time and he has a feeling their conversation right now will be filled with sighs and only sighs. “I can’t protect the both of you for so long from the Order and your Covens, even if I am an archangel.”

“What are you telling us right now, Jihoon?” Jeonghan suddenly rises up from his seat. His eyes are unnaturally too serious.

“The both of you committed a crime.” Jihoon states. “The both of you have to go back.”

“It’s _not_ a _crime_ to love!” Joshua exclaims, his face twisted in anger and worry. “And that’s the only thing we’ve committed here, really!”

“Yes, but it’s also vaguely illegal to _cross_ human borders just to play around with some human.” Jihoon tells the both of them. “Listen, I feel for the both of you but—I’m just one angel going up against power hungry angels and demon. I didn’t even want to be archangel in the first place, you know that Jeonghan.”

“I know.” Jeonghan sighs and in a quiet voice, as if accepting their fate. “What do we do now?”

“You go back to Heaven and Hell. Fix this mess. Watch Seungcheol over there.” Jihoon tells them. “No other choice, the both of you’ve had your fun but you know how things are.”

“ _You can’t expect us to—_ “ Joshua exclaims out, now really angry. He turns to Jeonghan, his face red with anger. “We leave him—we also leave each other! You can’t possibly agree to this—“

“We have no choice _Jisoo_.” Jeonghan tells him, his voice quiet but cold. “We stay here any longer, we drag Seungcheol to petty politics. _We_ make his life into petty politics.”

“Hate to say it but, Jeonghan _is_ right.” Jihoon tells him. His shoulders are slouched and he looks tired as well. “I’ve done more than I can to hide the both of you and Seungcheol in their eyes but—they’re getting restless. Sandalphon’s already started seeing you guys here and you know fast news spreads. The longer you stay here, the more you endanger his destiny.”

Joshua looks like he wants to say something. Like he doesn’t want the conversation to end here, but he knows it’s futile. His shoulders drop down and he accepts this fate. Jeonghan approaches him and tugs him to his arms, Joshua automatically leans into his touch like clockwork.

“At least give us a few more moments with him.” Joshua says quietly.

Jihoon takes one look at them and pities them. “I’ll give you until today. At twelve, I’ll be here to personally escort you back to heaven and hell.” _to make sure you actually follow me and not go rogue_ is what he does not say.

They both nod and Jihoon disappears in a flash of light. Jeonghan and Joshua stay like that quietly, waiting like prisoners on the death row.

* * *

“You looked like the both of you have seen ghosts.” Seungcheol says amused as he sees Jeonghan and Joshua all bundled up in their bed.

He shrugs off his backpack and jacket and climb over to the bed. He makes his way to the middle of the pile and smiles. Class is over, he’s pretty sure he’s failed two important exams of his college life but at that point he really doesn’t care. As long as he’s able to come home to these two people in his life, he’s sure he’ll be able to take the world any day.

“How was your day?” He asks and gets muffled groans in response. “Oh, mood.”

Jeonghan looks at Seungcheol’s eyes filled with warmth and happiness, he can’t bear to do anything to break it. He doesn’t even like the thought of him leaving this—the one place that’s as warm (if not warmer) than his nest back in heaven. He graps Seungcheol’s shirt and buries his nose to the crook of Seungcheol’s neck. He takes a deep breath, trying to commit to memory the things he’ll lose after today.

“I love you.” He mumbles and he feels tears forming in his face. “ _We_ love you, okay?”

“I love the two of you too.” Seungcheol says with a tint of worry. “Did something happen?”

Jeonghan shakes his head. Joshua looks at the two of them and his heart breaks. Their legs are tangled at this point, mostly because of Joshua’s doing. This makes Jeonghan want to sleep in but no—he tries not to. He’d rather be awake for their last moments.

Jeonghan looks up, sees Joshua’s face trying not to cry and Seungcheol’s face filled with worry. He thinks Jihoon is a fool for even thinking he could break this news to Seungcheol. If he had his way he wouldn’t ever let him know the perils of the world—steal him and Joshua away to another multiverse where they can live out the rest of their lives in peace.

But his angelic duties come first. He’s lived his life longer than any of them, he’s seen the world when it was beginning, seen the betrayal of Adam and Eve, was trained by one of the strictest and ruthless angels of heaven. He won’t let Joshua know the pain of killing someone yet.

“’cheol-ah.” Jeonghan starts and his voice breaks. He hasn’t even started yet—pathetic. Has a year of safety really dulled down the millennia of pain he’s been through? “We—we’re leaving. We’re going home.”

“Oh!? Is that all?” Seungcheol rests his head on the pillow, his eyes already closed. “I thought something bad was happening. When will you both be back?”

And at this point Jeonghan is oh so very tempted to lie to him, to let him not know of the true gravity of the situation. He suddenly understands Judas’ actions, and for a moment finds it in himself to forgive him. But he is angel, he is strong, he is a fighter. He takes a deep breath, and Joshua starts to break down crying.

“No, Seungcheol. We can’t come back.” Jeonghan whispers and the other’s eyes blinks wide open.

“What—what do you mean?” Seungcheol looks worried and he is biting his lips once again. “That’s not a funny joke Jeonghan.”

“It’s not a joke.” He says, shaking his head. “Jihoon told us—we stay here any longer and you’ll be dragged to our affairs. We don’t want that to happen to you.”

“ _Don’t make decisions for me!_ ” Seungcheol exclaims, his eyes wet with tears “I don’t care if I get dragged into your ‘affairs’, whatever the _fuck_ that means. I want the two of you to be with me.”

Jeonghan’s eyes soften and he caresses Seungcheol’s cheeks. It’s so easy to forget that the human in front of him does not know what they truly want—does not know the best for themselves. It’s so easy to for him to love so fiercely, to love without consequence. But that is a privilege angels and devils do not have, a privilege that exists only for humans. He sighs and kisses his forehead.

“You don’t want that.” Jeonghan tells him. “I’d rather you hate us for a little while rather than you hate us for all of eternity.”

“ _Jeonghan. Joshua._ ” Seungcheol’s voice cracks, and along with it the remaining pieces of Jeonghan and Joshua. “You leave me right now and I’ll hate you for eternity.”

Joshua moans out. “That’s unfair. You know—we can’t do anything about this.”

“You can _stay_.” Seungcheol tells them. He’s freely crying now, all of them are. “Just don’t leave me here alone. I don’t think I can take that.”

“We can’t do that—I think you already know that.” Jeonghan weeps, his hands twisting the shirt of Seungcheol wrinkled. “We tried, we did our best. We lost. We can’t go against the Order and Covens. In return you’ll live a miserable life, we’d rather die than let that happen.”

 “I hate the both of you.” Seungcheol sobs. “So much. Don’t ever come back to me again.”

Joshua whimpers and looks up to kiss Seungcheol’s tears away. Seungcheol kisses Joshua on the lips instead and this is how they know that the moment they leave each other, they’re already dead. Jeonghan takes a deep breath. Seungcheol turns to him and kisses his lips as well. Their hands are intertwined with each other and their foreheads rest on top of each other. Seungcheol looks at Jeonghan’s eyes and sees the universe. It’s jarring to know he won’t ever see this ever again.

“Thank you.” Jeonghan whispers. “For everything.”

A flash of light overtakes them, then suddenly—Seungcheol is alone in his room, the warmth of two people already leaving him. It’s barely been thirty seconds and he doesn’t think he won’t be able to live without them.

* * *

* * *

It seems so surreal to wake up every day without them. He doesn’t even know how he was able to live without them.

Yet, Seungcheol wakes up every day to a cold and quiet apartment. Everything feels as if something is missing and he throws away all the apple juice that went expired one week ago. He really should stop buying extra, not like he’s going to be able to finish all of them though.

(His mind wants to forget yet his body—muscle memory—does not even give him any mercy as it does not waste time or energy to remind Seungcheol of them in the mundane things that he does every day. In setting the three spots in the table despite him being the only one who’ll eat, accidentally ordering one extra coffee and hibiscus tea that he’ll only end up giving to Junhui and Minghao.

He feels tired. Is God really merciful?)

So he tries to breathe slowly. Try to cope back to life without them. It’s far too hard—far too difficult, but he’s doing it. He starts going back to club meetings regularly, tries to embed himself to the lives of his dongsaengs without trying to let them know that he’s lost the best people to ever come to his life—but he thinks he even fails that as he tries to avoid their stares.

“You’ve been far too sad, hyung.” Mingyu tells him with those sad eyes of his one night after club meeting. “Why don’t you come with us and Wonwoo to the bar we work in? Our treat.”

Seungcheol takes a moment.

“You know what, I’ll bite.”

* * *

Drinking socially has always been Seungcheol’s favorite past times. He’s far from being an alcoholic, but he’s never one to refuse a bottle of soju if someone offers it to him. Numb his more responsible side and let the side he always represses to come out, even for a little while.

And yet, tonight—he does not drink a lot. He tries to, but there’s really no use numbing his feelings when he’s been feeling numb the whole week. Everything feels insincere, even the worried looks both Wonwoo and Mingyu throws at him from the bar as the night goes on. He feels tired of putting up appearances, of being treated like glass.

He goes home after his fifth bottle of soju, pays his tab and leaves a generous tip for his dongsaengs. He goes home to lovers that only exist in the sheets and in his imagination. He sleeps alone for the nth time that month.

* * *

* * *

This is how Seungcheol falls in love. He falls in love slowly, like a drizzle slowly bringing in a hurricane. The calm before the storm as some people would say. He falls in love sweetly, with the tiny little things like how Joshua always carries chapstick for the instances he’d bite his lip too much when he’s stressed or how Jeonghan turning a blind eye to whatever object he’s impulsively bought that month even though they’re not really in the position to buy frivolous things since they’re just broke college students.

And he doesn’t even realize he’s already fallen in love until it’s far too late for him to stop—gravity overwhelms his body and when he falls, he falls hard. He falls without restraints and it’s so scary, especially considering Jeonghan and Joshua are leagues higher than him—that they have the world at their fingertips and they can do anything and everything they want without the added baggage of a mortal like him.

But then, they smile at him like that—like he’s personally hung the moon. They kiss him softly and harshly at the same time that his head gets confused and melts into a puddle of goo. They show him the deepest parts of themselves; show themselves to Seungcheol in their truest forms possible and looks at him as if they genuinely care about a mortal’s feelings and opinion of them (and it seems so fucking genuine that Seungcheol starts to believe that). They draw him deeper into their embrace that there really is no chance of Seungcheol ever escaping them—that they don’t even give him a chance to even fight against his feelings.

Falling in love with Jeonghan and Joshua seems logical as one, two, three.

* * *

* * *

He wakes up. He washes his face. He makes himself as presentable as possible. He goes to class. He eats. He goes to club meetings and watch over his dongsaengs. He returns back home. He sleeps. He repeats.

It’s unfair for them to not live out his life to the fullest but Choi Seungcheol doesn’t know how to do that anymore. Doesn’t even know how be his old self anymore—what was he even like before them? He can’t remember. He knows in his heart that the two of them never really left him—that they’re in heaven or in hell watching over him, guarding him, tempting him but—

Actions speak louder than words. They’re not here with them. If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If Choi Seungcheol isn’t okay and no one is around to call him out on it, is he really not okay?

Really makes you think.

He wakes up. He washes his face.

Thinking about it, was it really fair for any of them? It wasn’t, was it?  How egotistical of him to even think that he amounted anything to them—they didn’t have any obligation to him, yet here he is expecting. And yet, he cannot help but hate them, then hate himself for even trying to lie. He could never hate Jeonghan and Joshua. Never.

He makes himself as presentable as possible. He goes to class.

He throws himself to his academics and all his professors praise him for how high his grades have been the past semester. He even makes it to being part of the Dean’s List once or twice. His parents call him up, tells him how proud they are of him, he says thank you to them—tells them he’s only fulfilling his filial duty towards them. They hang up and he starts to regret never being able to introduce Jeonghan and Joshua to his parents.

He eats. He goes to club meetings and watch over his dongsaengs.

They look at him in worry and he thinks to himself how could have he been so lucky to have the best dongsaengs in the world? They treat him gently and yet they think it’s going to take much more for him to break. He appreciates their vote of confidence towards him, and he’s happy they think of him that high up. Minghao’s voice gets gentler, Junhui pats him on the back more, Mingyu gives him lunchboxes more often filled with side dishes that he likes a lot, Wonwoo gives him back massages randomly. They all avoid the topic of Jeonghan and Joshua. They all pretend like nothing is wrong.

He returns back home. He sleeps.

He breathes in the scent of his sheets. Slowly by slowly, even if he’s doing his best, their scents fade away and soon enough he’ll be rid of this small reprieve of reality. He closes his eyes and the last thing on his mind is prayer to God to have mercy on him.

He repeats. He copes. He gets used to it.

.

.

.

* * *

* * *

* * *

And of course God will never let him live a life full of monotony.

Just as he was getting used to being alone, just as he was getting used to the quiet and the aching loneliness—one day, he comes home and there they are. As if they never left in the first place.

The world is so unfair, too unfair.

The world is out to get you, boy.

* * *

* * *

* * *

.

.

.

He gets inside his apartment, sees two ghosts and immediately walks over and shuts himself inside their—no, _no_ his (only his now) room. He takes a deep breath as his back rests on the door and he can’t help but descend to the floor with how his legs feel like the lychee jelly Jeonghan and Joshua loves to eat in the summer.

He hears a knock at the door.

“Seungcheol.” Jeonghan whispers from the other side.

“ _Leave._ ” He replies. “Leave and _never_ come back.”

He hears someone take a deep breath. Seungcheol’s heart—the same heart he’s spent all these months trying his best to mend to the best of his ability, the same heart he’s haphazardly stuck bandages on—breaks into more pieces. This time he’s not so sure if he’ll be able to piece them back together.

“’cheol-ah. Please.” He hears Joshua say. “At least hear us out.”

“ _Don’t_ —“ Seungcheol’s crying now. “Don’t call me that, you don’t get to call me that.”

They stay silent for a moment and Seungcheol thinks that’s the end of that. That the ghosts will leave and he can go back pretending everything is okay again (even though deep down, he knows nothing will be okay again—if he was living in a semblance of normality before this, all he’s worked towards will be thrown away. He has to start again from scratch).

Then one of them knocks. One. Two. Three. Three knocks, three for each one of them. Seungcheol laughs pitifully at this.

“ _Seungcheol_. Please—“ Jeonghan pleads through the door and he sounds broken. “Just give us one moment to explain. We’ll leave if you don’t want it. We’ll leave and we’ll never come back.”

Seungcheol takes a deep breath. They’ve come this far, they also need closure—all of them needs the closure. So despite him hearing warnings from the back of his head (that eerily sound similar to his dongsaengs), he stands up and opens the door.

Lo and behold. The two prodigal sons, trying to come back home. It takes all of Seungcheol’s willpower not to jump to their arms again—he knows better than that, he _is_ better than that. He bites his lip, stares at them with eyes that he hopes look like he doesn’t care—that he’s disinterested in what they have to say.

“Seungcheol.” They both breathe out. Joshua looks like he’s wrecked, that he’s trying his best not to dissolve into tears. Jeonghan, an emotional pillar, stands strong yet there is no denying that his nose seems a tad too red than the usual.

(And it’s pathetic how it’s been months since they’ve seen each other—Seungcheol still memorizes the nooks and crannies and appearances of theirs. It’s hell to know the map of someone and yet knowing you’ll never see them again. It’s torture that Seungcheol has managed to get through.)

“ _What_ do you want?” Seungcheol says; his tone cold as the frost of his heart.

Jeonghan and Joshua look at him with an indescribable expression and without any warning they both fall to their knees, surprising Seungcheol.

“We’ve come to apologize.”

* * *

And now they are sitting inside the bedroom. Seungcheol in his usual seat, eyes not looking at any of them—trying his best to avoid their eyes. Joshua looks like a wounded puppy. Jeonghan, out of all three of them, looks the most equipped.

“We know—we know you won’t accept us back anymore.” Jeonghan starts. “What we did was far too cruel for you and we were both stupid—we didn’t think about what you wanted, only thought about protecting you that we never realized you didn’t need protecting.”

“Seungcheol, you have to understand.” Jeonghan continues on. “We thought we were acting in your best interests but now we see that we were wrong and for that we apologize.”

Joshua bows his head. “We went back to our respective domains. We’ve pleaded, and pleaded and we were set to trial. Last I heard before I was to die, Jeonghan was to be erased from existence.”

“Wait— _die? Erased?_ ” Seungcheol looks at them worry in his eyes. “What—what do you mean?”

Joshua lets out a self-deprecating small laugh through his nose. “Exactly what it means. We were to die, erased from the book of life Itself for committing a transgression—for crossing human borders they said, but in reality it was for loving you.”

“Heaven and Hell, despite being so intertwined with the fates of humanity, a lot of the people with power—they hate humans.” Jeonghan continues. “They were going to make an example out of us.”

“How, how are you here then?” Seungcheol’s eyebrows are furrowed in confusion.

 “Because of you.” Jeonghan smiles at him in a bittersweet manner. “Your prayers to God were enough to wake Him up and put the three of us under His protection.”

“Your devotion was so strong that God actually pitied us.” Joshua whispers. “You saved us from imminent death.”

“I don’t understand—what are you trying to say?” Seungcheol tilts his head. “I thought—“

Jeonghan takes his hands the same time as Joshua does.

“We know you won’t ever forgive us—that there’s little chance for that happening but we _love_ you.” Jeonghan tells him. “That will never change—we were ready to die for you but—“

“Like always,” Joshua continues, forcing a laugh out. “You saved us, so we’re back to you—we always come back to you.”

“Our fates are yours.” Jeonghan tells him. “We belong to you and no one else.”

Seungcheol looks at the two pairs of eyes staring at him with such fervent honesty that his heart does not know how to react. He takes a deep breath, swallows the lump in his throat and suddenly everything he’s been emotionally pushing down to the depths of his heart comes up.

“I—I just wanted the both of you to be back to me.” Seungcheol admits, tears freely flowing now. “I didn’t care about Heaven or Hell. I just wanted the both of you back to me.”

“Oh, dear—“ Joshua is the first to move and take Seungcheol into his embrace. “Please don’t cry.”

“Too late for that,” Seungcheol weakly smiles at them. “I tried my best to hate you, you know? And it’s just so unfair—so _unfair_ that I can never truly hate any of you.”

Jeonghan then moves to him, and kisses his cheeks. “We know.”

“If you—if you want to come back to me, then you’re never gonna leave. You got that?” Seungcheol gives in, it’s foolish and he knows that the dongsaengs in his head are shouting at him for being so stupid but he is only a mortal man who breaks easily. Who is tempted easily. Who loves easily. “No take backs, no backing out, no leaving. Mine forever.”

“Only if you’re ours forever too.” Joshua tells him. Seungcheol nods so hard that it’s a wonder his neck does not break.

“That’s a given.” Seungcheol replies. “I don’t want to hurt like that anymore—I don’t want you guys to hurt anymore too.”

They’re so close to each other that the beginning and the ends of their beings get muddled up—there is no Jeonghan, Seungcheol and Joshua—only JeonghanSeungcheolJoshua, they all realize. Their hands are intertwined together so deeply that it is almost as if they will never be able to separate ever again. They wonder— _how were they able to survive the past months? How were they able to exist without each other?_

Suddenly, the world is back on track again.

* * *

Seungcheol wakes up the next day with no one in bed but him. He panics for a second, thinking that maybe the events of last night was all a dream concocted just to prolong his suffering more because that seems just like something his brain would do. Those worries are quickly blown away though when he hears noises from the kitchen.

“Hush you overgrown chicken!” He hears Joshua hiss a tad too loudly. “Seungcheol’s gonna wake up if you keep this up!”

“I’m not gonna have any problems if you actually let me do my job!” Jeonghan fires back, “Heavens know you actually can’t fucking cook!”

Seungcheol sighs in relief. He quickly gets out of bed and makes his way to the kitchen. He smiles at the sight he sees before him—Jeonghan and Joshua trying to cook breakfast when all three of them knows that neither of the two knows how to make any kind of breakfast since that task is always delegated to him. Seungcheol coughs, grabbing their attention. The two of them stops and looks up, staring at Seungcheol like deers caught in headlights.

“So.” Seungcheol starts. Jeonghan huffs. Joshua sighs.

“We were trying to make you breakfast in bed.” Joshua explains, weakly gesturing at the slight mess they’ve made in the kitchen. “You know, before you wake up.”

“You should’ve stayed in bed more Seungcheol!” Jeonghan whines as he waves around his whisk. “Sleep in! God knows how much you keep talking about how you want to sleep in for once.”

Seungcheol actually laughs at this. He exhales and for the first time in months, everything feels okay—they’re not yet like how they were before, but they’re getting there.

“You know what, let me help you guys.” Seungcheol says, rolling up his sleeves.

* * *

Jeonghan unfurls his large golden-white wings around the house more often. Joshua lets out his tail and makes the horns on his forehead appear around the house more often as well. Seungcheol doesn’t comment on it, but he does smile privately whenever this happens.

He doesn’t have much to give them nor does he have anything as valuable as what they’re entrusting him, but he tries his best. He opens up more and _finally_ introduces them to his parents (which was just an all-around teary affair with his mother threatening them to come around and actually visit them in real life).

During the cold days where Jeonghan’s wings seem to look cozier and warmer than ever, they both pool around him. Jeonghan complains that it’s too hot but that doesn’t stop him from wrapping both Joshua and Seungcheol around his wings, encapsulating all three of them safely and warmly.

“I’m starting to think this is the only reason you guys like me still.” Jeonghan jokes.

“Hush, overgrown chicken.” Joshua sounds so sleepy. “You know we love you more than that.”

“I know.” Jeonghan replies and he too sounds sleepy as well. “I love the two of you.”

And they sleep like that. Jeonghan’s wings protecting them from the outside world, Joshua’s tail and legs wrapped around their legs. Seungcheol dreaming of warm smiles and kisses that rivals coffee.

* * *

* * *

“There’s no one here.” Joshua tells him randomly as they wait for the pedestrian light to go green. “You can forego the light this time; you’re running late aren’t you?”

Dejavu hits him but he ignores it for the mean time. Seungcheol’s practically running in place as he worriedly looks at his watch then the light, minute by minute his stress level increases. He looks at the street and the sidewalk on the other side. Joshua _is_ right. There’s no car incoming nor are there people who can report him to the police if he breaks the law this one time. Of course, he’ll feel guilty that he’s breaking the law but that can be justified, he’s running late for a very important meeting—all of them are. He bites his lips as he genuinely is considering Joshua’s advice.

Behind him, Jeonghan makes a noise of displeasure.

“Don’t listen to him, Seungcheol.” He tells him and even if Seungcheol can’t see him, he can practically hear Jeonghan glaring daggers at Joshua who only shrugs beside the oldest. “There’s a CCTV by the light and they’ve already seen our faces. Also, look. By your five o’clock, a kid is watching us. You don’t want to be a bad role model for this kid, don’t you?”

Seungcheol bites his lips some more. He looks at the kid Jeonghan points out and the kid is so very much obviously is watching them despite his best efforts to appear not to. He knows it takes a village to raise a kid.

Joshua groans. “He’s not your kid.”

“Yeah, but—“ Seungcheol says, finally making a decision, standing firm on his feet and waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green. “He can learn bad things from me because I’m an adult. I don’t want him to think it’s okay or cool to run on the street when the light’s green. What if he gets hit by a truck?”

Jeonghan lets out a tiny victory shout and pats Seungcheol on the shoulder. Joshua on his side just slouches and sighs, disappointed.

“You’re making my job hard, Seungcheol.” Joshua rubs his face. “Curse you for having a soft heart for children.”

“God bless you for having a soft heart and making my job easier.” Jeonghan says from behind and he sounds so pleased with himself that he sounds so cute. Joshua makes a disgruntled noise at this and Jeonghan only laughs at him. “Well, don’t be so sad ‘shua. Light always defeats the dark, you know?”

“Jeonghan, please shut up. I wasn’t doing this only for my dark devil agenda or whatever it is you think I do—I was also doing this so that Minghao wouldn’t throw a fit over us being late for may I remind the two of you, the _sixth_ time this week.” Joshua hisses but he quickly recovers. He takes a deep breath and he calms down.  He digs deep into his pockets and passes a chapstick to Seungcheol who graciously accepts it and uses it.

“Two of those were caused by you, you know?” Jeonghan says, paragon of virtue.

“The other four of those were caused by _you._ ” Joshua reminds him. “And you’re supposed to be the stickler for the rules and punctuality—you useless angel!”

“What do you want me to say? Talking with Seungcheol is better than going to these boring meetings. Maybe if you actually do your job right, I won’t be doing it for you, hopeless devil.” Jeonghan shrugs; maybe he’s not really a paragon of virtue after all. He looks at the pedestrian lights. “Lights green!”

This time however, instead of going forward all in his home. Jeonghan squeezes himself in between Seungcheol and Joshua. He looks at the two, his face beaming with a small smile and holds out his hand for them to take.

“Shall we go?” Jeonghan asks, smile never falling as he looks straight ahead of them.

“You don’t have to ask, dummy.” Joshua rolls his eyes yet he grabs a firm hold on Jeonghan’s hand. His ears and cheeks are red and he burrows his face into the scarf he probably stole from Jeonghan to hide it.

Seungcheol laughs at them and takes Jeonghan’s hand as well. In time, they step forward. The past urgency has long faded away and they take their time crossing the street, never mind that Minghao might get angry at them for the seventh time that week. He squeezes Jeonghan’s hand and looks at Joshua before looking forward. He exhales and the cold weather lets him see his breath—he enjoys watching his breath go up and disappear into the air.

He smiles to himself.

“’shua-ah, ‘hannie-ah.” He says. “Maybe you can start calling me ‘cheol again?”

The both of them look at him surprised but that quickly changes to big smiles that can even rival the sun.

“’cheol-ah.” Jeonghan tries it out. He nods. “Suits you better.”

“It’s nice to be back, ‘cheol-ah.” Joshua grins.

“It’s good to be back too.” Seungcheol nods.

So they walk together, to their club room, hand in hand, all smiles. At this point they don’t care if rapture or the apocalypse comes—no longer even that scared of Minghao if you put things into perspective. No longer scared of what may come and what may never come.

Jeonghan hums. Joshua brushes off non-existent dirt on his clothes with one hand. Seungcheol bites his lips.

Falling in love with Jeonghan and Joshua is as logical as one, two, and three.

**Author's Note:**

> im @17cherub on tumblr, @kafkaiseque / @woozdays on twitter if y'all wanna scream at me.


End file.
